The Gotham Incident
by cassandra quail
Summary: When the USS Abel goes missing, the two survivors end up stranded in Gotham city. With no money and no contacts, they're drawn to some of Gotham's more unsavoury characters. The crew of the Enterprise are sent to rescue them.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I haven't planned this out, but I'm determined to make a Star Trek/Batman crossover work somehow! I'll try to update regularly.

* * *

"Captain, there appears to be a Class M planet in a star system not far from the USS Abel's last known position," said Spock, without taking his eyes away from the scanner. "The third planet in the gamma-gemini system."

Captain James Kirk nodded slowly and said, "We'll check it out. Sulu, plot a course. Warp two."

"Warp two, Sir," repeated the helsman.

The scout vessel had been missing for weeks before anyone had been able to launch a search party. Kirk wasn't overly optimistic, but he felt he owed it to the Abel's crew to make sure that if they were out there, they would be found and rescued.

It wasn't long before the Enterprise was in orbit of gamma-gemini-III and able to scan in more detail; almost immediately, the word, "Fascinating" slipped through the science officer's lips.

"Yes, Mr Spock?" said the captain, rising from his chair.

"It would appear that the development of this planet almost exactly mirrors that of Earth," he replied. "However, it does not appear that its inhabitants have developed warp capabilities yet."

"Have you scanned for a possible wreckage?"

"I am picking up traces of duranium in the Northern continent, near a large city," said Spock.

"Right. Mr Spock, you're with me." Kirk pressed the intercom. "Kirk to McCoy. Come in Doctor McCoy."

"Yes?" came the slightly impatient response.

"I need you in transporter room two with a medkit in five minutes. We might have found the Abel, and there may be survivors who need medical attention."

"Understood, Captain."

"Scotty, you have the conn," said the captain, and he led Spock into the turbolift.

* * *

The away team materialised in a large canyon a short distance from the city. There were shards of hull half-buried in the sand; following the twisted pieces of metal and patterns in the sand quickly led them to the crash site. There wasn't much left of the ship, and what remained of the bridge was already starting to fill with sand and pebbles. There were three mounds next to the wreckage, each marked with a single stone.

Kirk turned to Spock, who was adjusting a woolly hat to cover his ears. "How many people were aboard the Abel?"

"I believe there were five crew members, Captain."

"Well then," said McCoy. "Looks like some of them made it at least. What now?"

"We look for them, Doctor," said Kirk, looking at the sprawling city ahead.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "How do you propose to find them? Looking for two people in a city as large as the one before us would be, as you humans would say, like searching for a sewing implement in a stack of dried grass."

"He does have a point, Jim – where are we supposed to begin?"

Kirk thought hard. If the Vulcan and the Doctor had managed to agree on something, it must be serious. Luckily he was struck by inspiration. "We should be able to use our tricorders to scan for federation technology. If I were marooned on a strange planet, I'd carry my phaser as a precaution."

"Calibrating my tricorder now," said Spock.

The three men walked towards the road, before following it into the outskirts of the city. The buildings were dark and shadowy, and the skyscrapers in the distance seemed to loom ominously over the people below.

"I'm picking up a signal, Captain," said Spock. "It appears to be coming from that direction." He pointed over to what looked like an abandoned industrial estate.

They followed the winding road down to where the signal originated, past a burned out factory and a smashed up warehouse, all the way to what looked like it used to be a children's play centre. There was a ghoulish clown painted on the wall, and a sign that rattled with every gust of wind boasting, _The funnest house in town!_

McCoy looked to his companions. "What in blazes are we doing here? Why would the survivors of the Abel end up in this dump?"

"Only one way to find out," said Kirk, walking towards the entrance and motioning to the others to follow.

He didn't know what he was expecting when he pushed the door open, but a group of freakish clowns pointing old-fashioned guns at him wasn't it. He threw his hands up in surprise and kept them there as the reality of the situation hit him.

"What have we got here?" grunted one of the clowns, a fat, balding man with a gruff voice and sneering eyes.

Kirk looked to McCoy and Spock, and then back to the clown. "We're lost," he said. "We were looking for some friends, but we must have taken a wrong turn. If you'll just put the gun down, we'll be on our way."

"Not so fast," came a voice, before a woman in a red and black harlequin costume seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Who are these friends of yours?" She studied Kirk intently, jumping atop a large octopus, which must have been part of a ride.

"They had an accident recently," said Kirk evasively. He looked at McCoy. "This man is a Doctor. He needs to check them over."

"Ya don't say..." said the harlequin, her blue eyes narrowed. She shrugged. "Well, you ain't gonna find them here."

"So can we go?" asked Kirk tentatively.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head in an exaggerated gesture. "I think Mistah J might wanna have a word with you before we let you go." She nodded at the clowns, who quickly covered their mouths and noses with gas masks, before tossing a smoking grenade at Kirk's feet.

"Buh-bye!" she sang as she bounded out of the way and the Starfleet officers slumped to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wakey, wakey!" came a cackling voice shortly before Kirk received a blow to the face.

He opened his eyes groggily. His head was pounding and his vision blurry. He could just about make out a purple suit; following it upwards led to one of the most terrifying faces he had ever encountered. The pale skin, twisted smile and crazed eyes of the man in front of him were wild and dangerous. He tried to move, but a tugging at his wrist told him his hands were tied behind the chair he was sitting on.

"What – what is this?" he asked.

"Ah-ah-ahh," said the strange man, wagging his finger. He bent down until his face was just inches from Kirk's. "I'm the one asking the questions."

He stood up again and took a few steps backwards. The woman, the harlequin, from earlier was sitting on a table next to the door, chewing gum and watching Kirk intently.

"How did you find my hideout?" he asked, stroking the harlequin's arm with a mix of tenderness and disdain. "Who are you working for?"

Kirk thought for a moment, desperately looking for a way to de-escalate the situation. "This is a misunderstanding," he said. "As I said to this... lovely young woman, we were looking for our friends and simply took a wrong turn."

The man grumbled. The harlequin narrowed her eyes and said, "He's gotta be lying. How else do you explain this?" She held up Kirk's phaser. "I dunno what it does, but looks an awful lot like those strange weapons we found on the other guys."

"Yes. It does, doesn't it Harley?" The man laughed coldly. "You're going to have to do better if you think you can fool the Joker! So I'm going to ask you once more. Who are you working for?"

Kirk was alarmed to notice that Harley had picked up a large mallet and was walking slowly towards him, her face like a twisted child in a candy shop. As she swung it upwards, Kirk saw the door open silently behind this Joker character and Harley, and Spock slipped in. Before the Joker could say another word, Spock had nerve pinched him and moved towards Harley.

"What the - ?" she said, before she too succumbed to the Vulcan nerve pinch, her mallet dropping to the floor with a hefty clatter.

"Spock! Thank God you got here in time. What's going on? Where's McCoy?"

"The Doctor is keeping watch," replied Spock as he untied the rope around Kirk's wrists and ankles. "We should get out of here."

"Agreed," said Kirk. He stretched his arms and legs, and the two quickly moved out of the room and up a flight of stairs, where the doctor was waiting, anxiously looking around.

"Took you long enough to get here," moaned McCoy, looking the captain over for injuries.

"Don't worry, I'm okay," assured Kirk. "Right now we need to get out of here."

"Unfortunately, Captain, our communicators appear to have be stolen," said Spock.

"Great." Kirk looked at the broken play equipment surrounding them.

"Can we talk about this when we're out of this place?" McCoy was getting agitated. "If we don't get out of here now those goons might get us again – and maybe we won't be so lucky trying to escape."

"Point taken," said Kirk, and the three men hurried out of the building. None of them had the vaguest idea of where they were going, but Kirk led the others down this road and that, until they were far enough away from the industrial estate to feel at ease. They stopped on the corner of a street of shops, which were all beginning to close as the setting sun grew orange.

"So, what now?" asked McCoy.

"We need to contact the Enterprise," said Kirk. "Spock, do you think you'd be able to make a communicator somehow?"

"Given the correct materials," the Vulcan replied. "However, we have no components to work with or currency to buy components with."

"Are you sure they use currency here, Spock?"asked Kirk.

Spock simply motioned to a billboard opposite them, a giant photograph of a half-naked woman provocatively biting into a donut. Feeling a little defeated, Kirk suggested they have a walk and see if they could find somewhere to stay.

"What's going on in there?" asked McCoy, stopping suddenly. He pointed through the window of the luxurious restaurant across the street; the customers and serving staff alike all seemed to be sleeping, some in their plates of expensive food.

"I'm not sure," said Kirk slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps we should investigate."

They waited for a truck to pass, before crossing the road.

"It would seem that that woman is immune to whatever is afflicting the others," remarked Spock.

A pretty woman with a fiery mane of red hair was standing in the middle of the restaurant. She was wearing a leafy green leotard, prompting Kirk to remark, "Does everyone in this town dress so strangely?"

The woman saw them as they opened the glass doors.

"Hello, boys," she purred, and slinked towards them.

Kirk found himself oddly distracted by her; he could not take his eyes away from her deep neckline and shapely curves, and he felt a fluttering sensation throughout his body.

McCoy smiled broadly, and said, "Nice to meet you, little lady."

Spock raised an eyebrow.

"You can call me Poison Ivy," she said with a seductive smile. She looked McCoy up and down, and bit her lip; he gazed at her dumbly, seemingly incapacitated.

"Well, uh, Miss Ivy..." began Kirk, equally foolishly.

Spock cleared his throat. "Do you know what happened here?" he asked, before the captain could embarrass himself.

Ivy's fingers hovered, just about to caress the captain's cheek, but she turned to Spock sharply, momentarily confused. She stepped towards him, a wisp of red hair running through her fingers.

"Don't worry, darling. They'll be fine when they wake up... As will you."

With a flirtatious smile, she stroked Spock's arm, but he stepped away.

"It seems I am immune to your... charm," he said.

A disgruntled Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the appearance of a tall black figure.

"Oh look, it's Batman," she said, rolling her eyes.

Spock raised his eyebrow. "Bat man?"

Ivy cocked her head quizzically. "You're not acquainted with Bats here? What a terrible shame."

"You will be soon," growled the cloaked black figure. He walked further into light, cape floating behind him, and took hold of Spock, who remained expressionless. Kirk and McCoy were still staring open-mouthed at Poison Ivy, their thoughts blissfully scrambled.

Ivy laughed. Spock calmly reached for the dark knight's shoulder, but his pinch couldn't penetrate Batman's clothes. Although only his chin was visible, it was clear that Batman was staring at Spock oddly.

"Well, Batman, if you're _tied up_ with someone else, I'll leave you to it," said Ivy. She dropped something and blew a kiss, and out of nowhere Spock found himself bound to Batman by thick vines. Ivy picked up a bag, full of money, jewellery and wallets from the rich customers, and quickly ran from the restaurant before Batman could break free.

"Damn," said Batman.

The fog seemed to lift from Kirk's brain almost as soon as Ivy had left.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Who's this?"

McCoy was in a similar state of confusion. "These people have a weird fashion sense," he said, before he had fully sobered up.

"We are not from around here," said Spock, quickly covering for him.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you asleep like the others?" said Batman. He had managed to retrieve a sharp, bat-shaped knife from his belt and began sawing through the vines.

"By the time we arrived, the woman calling herself Poison Ivy was just leaving," said Spock.

"We saw there were people in trouble, and then Poison Ivy..." Kirk trailed off, a little embarrassed. "Well I don't really remember what happened after that. It was as though she drugged me, but she didn't even touch me."

"Her body produces pheromones that allow her to get into your mind," explained Batman, the remnants of the vines shrivelling as he shook his hands free. "She may not look it, but she's an extremely dangerous woman."

"You're telling me," mumbled McCoy.

"Sir, do you think you could -" Kirk stopped, looking around the room in bewilderment. It was as though Batman had simply vanished, midway through his sentence.

"What is with this place?" asked McCoy. "First there're killer clowns, then women who control your mind, and now men who can just disappear into thin air! I don't like this at all, Jim."

"That makes two of us, Bones. That man could have been our ticket out of here."

Spock cleared his throat. "Captain, I believe I could use some of this technology to contact the Enterprise." He was looking at a couple of mobile phones on a table.

"You mean steal these devices, Spock?" asked McCoy, wondering if his ears were deceiving him.

"It seems clear to me that if we do not contact the Enterprise, we are likely to encounter more of these unsavoury characters. Borrowing these devices may be our only option if we are to get out of here alive."

"That's an interesting definition of 'borrow', Mr Spock," teased the captain.

Spock ignored him, and gathered three phones from the tables.

"I suggest we find some shelter now, Captain, and leave before anybody else finds us here."


	3. Chapter 3

Kirk, Spock and McCoy were sitting in a quiet, dingy bar, quite oblivious to the glares from the staff; they had been in there for nearly an hour and still hadn't bought anything. McCoy was drumming his fingers impatiently while Spock made the final adjustments to his makeshift communicator. Jim was thinking over what had happened so far and planning their next move. This was a dangerous place to be sure, what with all the deranged costumed freaks running around. The Joker, the harlequin, Poison Ivy... They had been on the planet less than a day and already run into more than their fair share of trouble.

"I believe we should be able to contact the Enterprise now, Jim."

Spock's voice shook Kirk out of his thoughts.

"Well done, Spock. Let's go somewhere a little quieter, shall we?"

As the three men got up and left the bar, the manager called, "And don't come back, you tight bastards!"

"Tight bastards?" repeated Spock in confusion.

Similarly confused, Kirk and McCoy shrugged and they headed down the road to a quiet, dimly lit park, where hopefully they wouldn't be overheard. Standing under a large tree to shelter from the light drizzle, Spock handed the communicator to the captain.

"Kirk to Enterprise. Enterprise, do you read?"

"Captain!" exclaimed Uhura. "We were beginning to worry about you. What's going on? Why is the transmission so faint?"

"I'll explain properly when we're back on the ship."

* * *

Safely back on the Enterprise, Kirk called the Doctor and Spock to the meeting room. After explaining the situation to the rest of the bridge officers, he had had just enough time to come up with a plan.

"Doctor McCoy, I'll need you to stay here on the Enterprise. This has become a dangerous mission, and if anything goes wrong, I need you to be prepared to treat us in sickbay. Spock, I'd like you to come back to the surface with me. Based on our scans, it would seem that these... costumed freaks are highly organised and dangerous criminals. I suggest that we split up and go undercover, posing as petty criminals ourselves. If I remember rightly, the... what was his name, the Jester?"

"The Joker, Captain," corrected Spock.

"Yes. Well, if I remember rightly, he recognised our phasers, which suggests he's been in contact with our men. Spock, I'd like you to see what you can find out about him, and I'll go looking for this Bat man character."

The longer Kirk spoke, the more disgruntled McCoy became, until finally he couldn't keep his mouth closed any longer. "I don't like this, Captain. I don't like this at all."

"You don't have to like it, Bones. You just have to do your job," said Kirk with a shrug.

"It could be suicide!" he blasted.

"You are correct, Doctor," said Spock. "This is a dangerous mission. However, it is a necessary one. There are no other ships in the area to aid the Abel, and if we do not find the survivors soon, I believe that there will be no survivors to find. The odds of them surviving longer than seven more days are approximately one in one hundred and forty seven point three."

"Approximately, eh?" Despite himself, the Doctor could not resist teasing the Vulcan. "Well, if you must go... Be careful."

* * *

Harley blew down her curly pink straw and giggled as her lemonade bubbled up in the glass. Poison Ivy smiled at her friend's childlike amusement. They were sitting together in a darkened corner of the Stacked Deck; the Joker had blamed her for the Starfleet officers' escape and told her to get out of his sight, so Ivy found herself opening her door to a blubbering Harley and letting her sleep over. In the morning she had taken her on a little "shopping" spree to cheer her up. Judging by her beaming smile and their bags of loot, the day had been a success so far.

"Thanks for all this, Red," she said with a blissful sigh. "You sure know how to cheer a gal up."

"It was the least I could do," said Ivy, taking a sip of her own drink to prevent any snide remarks about the Joker from slipping out.

"Say, do you see that creep over there? Does he look... familiar to you?" She widened her eyes in the direction of a man dressed in a long brown coat and a large hat. He gave the impression of a fairy clean cut man who was desperately trying to present himself as a regular in the underground circuit.

"Oh, _him_," said Ivy with a sneer. "I ran into him yesterday actually. Just as weak and pathetic as any other man, but I wonder what he's doing here. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be welcome here."

"You saw him too?" said Harley. "Huh. I recognise him now... He's one of the guys who escaped! It's _his _fault Mistah J kicked me out." Angrily, she slammed her empty glass on the table, causing her straw to jump onto the floor, and rose from her seat. "I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind."

"Hey, calm down, Harl," said Ivy, pulling gently on her arm. "If you're going to this, let's do it right. I say we take him somewhere a little quieter."

"Sounds like a plan." Harley's grin was a terrifying mixture of anticipation and malice. "Anyone who comes between me and my Puddin' is gonna _pay_."

"Take the bags to the car and get your mallet," said Ivy. "I won't be long."

Kirk was sitting at a table now, sipping slowly on a drink and looking around the bar. Looking for what exactly, he wasn't sure. But this place seemed like a hotbed of criminal activity, and wherever there was criminal activity, the Bat man was likely to show up.

"Why, hello," said Ivy, as she walked seductively towards his table. "Is this seat taken?"

"No, it isn't," said Kirk, a little sternly at first, but then a smile began to creep onto his face. "Please, sit down, and tell me – what's a beautiful woman like you doing in a place like this?"

She laughed coyly, though inside she was disgusted. "I could ask you the same thing. Is it really that bad?"

"You look like a woman of good taste," he said, eyeing her new sequinned green cocktail dress. "If this drink is representative of this place as a whole..."

Ivy smiled at the Starfleet captain-shaped putty in front of her. "Well, then, how about we go somewhere a little more... upmarket?"

Kirk simply smiled and gestured for her to lead the way. She took his hand, brushed her silky red hair out of her face and led him out of the door, where Harley was lying in wait.

"Bam!" Harley giggled as the mallet in her hands came crashing down onto Kirk's head, knocking him out instantly.

"Good one, Harl. Now let's get him in the boot."

After bundling the captain into the small boot above the ROSE BUD number plate, Harley giddily jumped in beside her friend. Ivy put her foot down and they were away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Spock had made a much better start. He had managed to intercept one of the survivors from the Abel, a Larry Brooke, on his way back to the Joker's hideout. At first the chubby young man had tried to run away, but Spock had easily caught him up. He pulled him into a disused warehouse.

"I am a Starfleet officer," said Spock. "I am here to rescue you."

Larry regarded him suspiciously. "Starfleet sent you after us?"

"Unfortunately, there was nobody in the vicinity when your ship first went missing," said Spock. "However, we are here now."

"You're – you're a Vulcan." Larry broke into a disbelieving smile. "Boy am I glad to see a friendly face! You don't know what it's like here."

"Unfortunately, we do," said Spock. "Therefore it is vital that we find your crew mate as soon as possible. Is he here?"

"Adam?" Larry shook his head. "I haven't seen him in days. Hopefully he's just lying low in between 'jobs' for the Joker, but..."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "How exactly did you start working for this man?"

"It's a harsh town, Mr... Mr...?"

"Spock."

"Mr Spock. As I was saying, it's a harsh town. There were three of us left to begin with. After the crash we went looking for help, but these streets are full of sick people. We had no money, no food... We got talking to a guy, said he could set us up with some work. We thought it would do, you know, to get by until help arrived. Turned out the work wasn't all it was cracked up to be. We barely made it out of our first job alive, but it paid well enough to get something to eat, somewhere to stay. The next job, well..." Larry lifted his trousers to reveal a small scab surrounded by fresh, purple scar tissue. "I was managed to survive, but Lt Foster wasn't so lucky... We buried him with the others and then went straight back to our boss and tried to quit, but he wouldn't let us. Once you're in, you're in. These guys don't want to risk having anyone squeal on them."

"Squeal?" Spock was confused.

"It's just local slang," said Larry with a shrug. "But the point is, you either continue working for them or they kill you."

"Then you must help us to find Adam," said Spock.

"Well..." Larry was squirming. "I don't know. If anyone finds out I'm trying to help Adam escape..."

"You may be able to assist us from the safety of the Enterprise," said Spock. "Your knowledge of the city will allow us to search for him more efficiently."

"Why didn't you say so? You can beam me up right away! Please."

Spock flicked open his communicator. "Enterprise? I have located one of the survivors. Two to beam up."


End file.
